Montgomery County DA offers $10K reward for unsolved Lansdale murder

The freight yard near the train station in Lansdale shortly after the discovery of Julie Barnyock's body in December, 1993. (photo/Montgomery County detectives)

NORRISTOWN — Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman and Lansdale Chief of Police Robert McDyre announced a $10,000 reward Friday morning for information on the 20-year-old unsolved murder of Julie Barnyock in Lansdale.

On Nov. 8, 199, at 11:40 p.m., Barnyock got off of a train from Philadelphia at the Lansdale train station. She called her parents for a ride home, and 40 minutes later, when someone from her family arrived at the train station, she was not there. Her parents reported her missing the next day. Her body was discovered on Dec. 2, 1993 in the Lansdale SEPTA/CONRAIL freight yard. Reports from North Penn Life in 2001 say she died from blunt force head trauma.

“The reason we are announcing this reward is for the hope that someone out there has information about this case, perhaps someone who has been confided in by a person close to them. We are hopeful that this reward and perhaps some conscious will compel someone to share this information with law enforcement,” Ferman said.

The case has been investigated through the past 20 years yielding no results. Ferman said the re-opening of the case was mostly driven by new forensic technology and evidence that was unable to be tested at the time. According to Ferman, the case was re-opened with a fresh set of eyes earlier in 2013.

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“Based upon that new review there’s been some more information that we’ve recovered.”

The new review has led detectives to people they say they know they need to talk to in regards to the case. Ferman said she could not comment on what the investigation has uncovered but investigators have found enough to move forward with it.

“We’ve certainly found enough to give us hope that standing here today would be a fruitful process,” Ferman said.

“Rather than identify particular individuals, there are persons of interest that make us think they have information about this case. A number of them are on the street and not in prison. Those individuals are people we are going to follow up and speak with,” Ferman.

“I think it’s very fair to the family to bring closure to it,” McDyre said.

The reward flyer is being released across Lansdale to get the information out. It will also be released at different SEPTA facilities.